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Situated in the ‘heart’ of Park Ave, Rochester NY, at the corner of Berkely and Park, sits a new gastro pub. Blu Wolf Bistro opened up just a few days ago and replaced the ever popular (not in my eyes) Colie’s Cafe.

No new owners involved, just an entirely new theme to the location. Instead of Colie’s fresh, farm raised ingredients and nutrient-rich smoothies, Blu offers a variety of rich, fried, greasy and filling dishes. There’s 36 beers on tap, and several dessert milkshakes, like Maple Bacon, for drink choices.

It’s definitely a little tricky to eat well here as most dishes are heavily fried, or as our booth neighbor said, “way too greasy.” But the place offers a different feel to the yuppie, Park Ave area, with it’s modern trendiness and late-night hours.

I couldn’t wait to try this place, and am glad my boyfriend and I got a chance to go while he was home for Thanksgiving. The restaurant was still working out many kinks (what did I expect after only being open for 3 days?), but that didn’t take too much away from our experience.

On a Friday night at 7 p.m. we were able to walk right in and sit down. Uncomfortably close to two couples on either side of us sharing booth space, but we got used to it and even chatted a few times with our neighbors.

While we perused the menu a group of servers stopped by the table kiddie-corner to us and started cheering on the patron’s eating. Ah, yes, I forgot — they have a food challenge. The Blu Wolf Burger challenge costs $35 and consists of 4 half pound patties (2lbs), homemade meat hot sauce, provolone-cheddar cheese sauce, curly leaf lettuce, tomato, onion, a Mac Daddy Patty, and crisp bacon weave, served with 1 lb Bent Arm Fries and a milkshake.

Quite the challenge, and if you win you get bragging rights (duh), a tee-shirt, free burger, Social Media recognition, and proceeds from your challenge purchases goes to a local children’s charity. The donation is regardless of whether or not you win, by the way.

What did we get?

We started off with the Buffalo fried Calamari. It was very good, crispy and fried the perfect amount. We realized, however, due the large portions of the entrees an appetizer was definitely NOT needed.

I ordered the Friday Fish Fry. I could not believe how humongous it was, and with such a reasonable $12 pricetag. The ‘Bent Arm’ fries were amazing, and despite how it looked, the Fish Fry was actually really meaty and not too fried. It made great leftovers the next day because I barely touched it the night of!

Look at the fork for sizing purposes. Our booth neighbors couldn’t get over the size of it and even snapped their own picture – haha.

Since they were out of coleslaw, our server offered me a variety of other choices including a brussel sprout and bacon salad, mac n’ cheese and vegetable of the day. I chose the mac n’ cheese and saved it for leftovers the next day to eat. It was good, a bit drier than I like.

Dave got the Park Ave Burger and said it was very good, and he’s a little picky burger-wise.

I definitely recommend giving this plac a try. It’s reasonably priced for the large portions, and offers a differnt vibe to the neighborhood. I’m definitely going back!

Food 5/5
Price 4/5
Experience 3/5 (I know this will go up once they work out the kinks)

I make an effort to go nearly every Saturday morning even if I don't get much. In general I enjoy buying a lot of my produce from other, smaller farmer's markets because it's usually even cheaper, and it's guaranteed local. The Public Market also focuses heavily on local foods, but there's plenty of imported goods -- they're usually easy to spot, and they're still cheaper than your standard grocery store!

Since it's prime Apple season, I usually get those but I got a bunch on Thursday at the farmer's market so I was all set!

Today I noticed a new Donut stand. They looked and smelled amazing.

Plus, there's an abundance of coffee/bakery stands and shops.

Later in the day I treated myself to the holiday 2013 Starbucks Buy One, Get One Free Deal.

I got an iced Skinny Peppermint Mocha with 2 pumps of peppermint and 2 pumps of mocha. Normally they put 4 pumps of each flavor in a Grande! WAY too much for me so I cut it in half. I think it tastes great still.

Because it was BOGO, the Barista was nice enough to make one iced for me now and one (without ice) for later.

I finally got to try out the Owl House with some friends last night. It’s a restaurant offering local, seasonal food, and caters to people with specific dietary needs like vegetarians, vegans and Gluten Free. It’s situated in a corner of a popular street in Rochester, NY and has been around since 2010. The menu changes several times a year based on foods in season.

The restaurant itself is so quaint and is located in an old, Victorian house.

I’ve heard great things about the place so I’ve been wanting to try it for a while and am so glad I did. I will definitely be back. Because I’m vegetarian they had a lot of foods that catered specifically to me. I had such a hard time deciding what I wanted because each dish is so unique with different foods and flavors you wouldn’t expect.